Written Answers Monday 14 September 2009

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage increase has been in category (a) A and (b) B calls in each NHS board area in each of the last 10 years.

Nicola Sturgeon: A detailed response to this question is available from the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 49112).

Ambulance Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average response time has been for category (a) A and (b) B calls in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested has been provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service and is set out in the following table.

  

Year
Category A
Category B


2004-05
8.6 minutes
9.5 minutes


2005-06
8.4 minutes
9.5 minutes


2006-07
8.9 minutes
9.5 minutes


2007-08
8.2 minutes
9.4 minutes


2008-09
7.2 minutes
8.4 minutes

Ambulance Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Scottish Ambulance Service is increasing clinical services to patients.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Ambulance Service is committed to developing clinical services to patients. This starts from when the caller is connected to the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre (EMDC) through the on-going enhancement of clinical triage and advice, through to the treatment at scene and onward conveyance to the most clinically appropriate secondary care centre. Specific examples of development include the development of integrated clinical pathways for primary clinical conditions such as Acute Coronary Syndromes (chest pain and heart attack) and stroke.

  The use of "see and treat" protocols continues to develop, allowing some patients to be given treatment and information relevant to their condition and then remain at home when it is clinically safe and appropriate for them to do so. For such patients being taken to hospital is not in their best interests. The service has also produced a variety of patient leaflets for patients and carers following "see and treat", where it is has been safe to treat patients at home but where additional information is of use. These cover topics such as lower than normal blood glucose levels, nosebleeds, minor wounds, seizures, asthma, fainting and panic attacks.

  In some parts for the country, the service have successfully developed the role of the Community Paramedic; their role is to deliver high quality treatment and care to patients, associated duty of care to other members of the public including the provision of health advice (see and treat) and transportation to appropriate medical facilities, generally in emergency situations, using a range of paramedic skills. In addition to this they may also diagnose, discharge or refer suitable minor injury and/or acute illness patients whilst working on behalf of the ambulance service, GP out-of-hour’s service or within a minor injury clinic setting.

Ambulance Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in making greater use of the skills, training and experience of Scottish Ambulance Service staff in the NHS.

Nicola Sturgeon: Ambulance staff at all levels are more highly trained and educated than ever before. Ambulance staff training is now aligned to the Paramedic Career Framework and this allows skills to be mapped across the various professional bodies within the NHS. More training is delivered in a multidisciplinary setting for example on the National Education for Scotland course, "Caring for the Acutely Ill child". The skills and training of ambulance service staff plays an increasing role in the out-of-hours service; this includes greater use of Extended Role Paramedics in unscheduled care, working with colleagues using the professional to professional support line and closer working between ambulance staff and their colleagues in NHS 24.

Ambulance Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure delivery of the Scottish Ambulance Service patient transport service, given the loss of time and commitment from volunteer drivers.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards are responsible for ensuring the provision of safe, sustainable and high quality health care that meets the needs of their patients. They must do so in line with strategic national priorities, ensuring they achieve the annual performance targets that are set out within their Local Delivery Plan and agreed with the Scottish Government. Decisions about the deployment of their resources are operational matters for the Scottish Ambulance Service.

  Following the issue of the Refreshed Strategy for Volunteering within NHSScotland in February 2008 we expect that NHS boards (including the Scottish Ambulance Service) should be doing all they can to attract volunteers to ensure that services of benefit to patients can be maintained. We have given a commitment to keep the mileage rates payable to volunteers under review.

Civil Servants

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on what authority its civil servants can be encouraged by a senior civil servant to capitalise on conflict with UK Government departments as referred to in the report in The Scotsman on 7 September 2009.

Michael Russell: The Civil Service Code makes it clear that civil servants in the Scottish Government are accountable to Scottish ministers and the role of Civil Servants is to support Scottish ministers in developing and implementing policies and decisions that Scottish ministers judge to be in the best interests of Scotland and its people. There are occasions when Scottish ministers disagree with and would wish to challenge decisions or positions taken by the UK Government, particularly where these appear to Scottish ministers to impact adversely on their devolved responsibilities. They would rightly expect the support of civil servants in presenting and pursuing their views and objectives.

Employment

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25156 by Fiona Hyslop on 17 August 2009, for what reason the sectoral breakdown of training opportunities is not held centrally.

Fiona Hyslop: Skills Development Scotland are responsible for collecting management information relating to training opportunities in Scotland.

  Skills Development Scotland are currently working with the management information systems from four different legacy organisations. They are presently considering the most effective way to integrate this information to provide us with occupational information across all training opportunities.

Epilepsy

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that clinicians can continue to prescribe anti-epileptic drugs that currently maintain seizure control for people with epilepsy, in light of the introduction in January 2010 of generic prescribing though the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Shona Robison: Under the terms of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS), pharmacists will be able to fulfil a prescription for a branded medicines by dispensing an equivalent generic medicine, but only where it is safe and clinically appropriate to do so. Provision will be made to allow the prescriber to opt out of substitution where, in his/her clinical judgement, it is appropriate for the patient to receive a specific branded medicine. In these circumstances the named brand must be dispensed.

Epilepsy

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its proposed timetable for consulting affected parties, such as doctors, pharmacists and patient representative organisations such as Epilepsy Scotland, will ensure that new arrangements for effective prescribing are introduced sensitively to allay patient fears while safeguarding the interests of thousands of people with epilepsy.

Shona Robison: The introduction of the generic substitution measures contained in the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) will be subject to discussion with affected parties such as doctors, pharmacists and patient representative organisations to ensure that the new arrangements are introduced in a way which safeguards the interests of patients while improving the effectiveness of prescribing.

Fertility Services

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25939 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 August 2009, when NHS boards will be asked to provide information on waiting times for IVF treatment and whether this information will be published.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25938 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 August 2009, when NHS boards will be asked to provide information on average waiting times for IVF treatment and whether this information will be published.

Shona Robison: NHS boards will be asked to provide information on waiting times for infertility services to Infertility Network Scotland during autumn 2009.

  Once this information is collected and verified, I will place a copy of the information in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 49114).

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when hospital electronic prescribing will be in place in each NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has commissioned a consortium of NHS boards to procure a Patient Management System which includes a hospital electronic prescribing and medicines administration system as an option. This procurement is due to get to award of contract stage by beginning of 2010, at which point NHS boards will have the opportunity to consider the business case for implementing the selected electronic prescribing system. Until these steps are completed it is not possible to fully answer questions about timescales

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place for electronic health records to be made available to patients.

Nicola Sturgeon: The NHS eHealth Strategy, published in 2008, discusses the intention to make health records available to patients electronically. The position taken was that this may be of greatest benefit to patients with long term conditions and in support of self-care management. A pilot of this has now been commissioned, led by NHS Ayrshire and Arran. Lessons learned will be evaluated and will inform planning for next steps.

Health

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the Scottish Government’s and COSLA’s consultation on the draft national eligibility criteria for adult social care and waiting times for personal and nursing care gave consultees only six weeks in which to respond; when it will publish the responses to the consultation; when it will publish any decisions taken following consideration of the responses; whether it will prepare separate guidance to address the specific needs of people with learning disabilities, and what organisations and individuals make up the national working party established to take the issue forward.

Shona Robison: The process of drafting comprehensive and clear guidance on a national framework for access and entitlement to services has been complex and time consuming. Draft guidance was issued to local authorities and key stakeholders on 26 May. To meet the agreed implementation date of 1 December 2009 it was necessary for comments to be submitted by 17 July; that allowed almost eight weeks consideration by those consulted. The responses to the consultation are currently being considered and will be published on the Scottish Government web pages by the end of September. The Scottish Government and COSLA will jointly issue the final guidance to the same timescale.

  The membership of the Access and Entitlement to Services Working Group is:

  Laura Bannerman, Association of Directors of Social Work (Chair)

  Mike Brown, Association of Directors of Social Work

  Ron Culley, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities

  Jim Pearson, Community Care Providers Scotland

  Kirsty McGrath, Scottish Government

  Peter Knight, Scottish Government

  Jane Arroll, Scottish Government

  Gillian Barclay, Scottish Government

  Shaun Eales, Scottish Government

  Jenny Stevenson, Scottish Government.

  The Scottish Government is also developing guidance for local health and social care partnerships on measuring outcomes for people with learning disabilities to inform the planning and delivery of services. This will be issued in October.

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients attended the Dumbarton Health Centre Family Planning and Well Woman Clinic between January 2009 and its closure in April 2009.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally and is not currently available from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. I will, however, write to the member with this information as soon as the information becomes available.

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25180 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 July 2009, whether NHS boards will be required to collect some or all of the data referred to in the answer or other data sets locally if they are to be held to account for standards in relation to diagnosis management and treatment of transient ischemic attack.

Nicola Sturgeon: Yes. The Better Heart Disease and Stroke Care Action Plan sets out our intention to continue to highlight, on an annual basis, NHS boards’ performance towards achieving the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) standards for stroke. NHS boards are therefore expected to gather the appropriate Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) data to support this, and to ensure that the SSCA findings are addressed.

  To help this process, the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland will integrate audits of pre-hospital and hospital-based stroke care, building on SSCA work, to provide a minimum dataset to reflect performance against NHS QIS stroke standards by December 2009.

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25181 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 July 2009, when the new standard targets for admission to a stroke unit are to be achieved and, if it is one year from the date of the answer, whether there are interim targets to be met by each NHS board’s managed clinical network for strokes.

Nicola Sturgeon: We expect NHS boards to make progress as quickly as possible towards achieving the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) stroke standards. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-26944, on 14 September 2009, which indicates that we will continue to monitor, on an annual basis, NHS boards’ performance against the standards. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website; the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

  The Better Heart Disease and Stroke Care Action Plan also recommends that a short life working group of the National Advisory Committee on Stroke should be established to explore the implications of developing a HEAT target relating to stroke unit admissions.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions for drugs for the treatment of alcohol dependence have been dispensed in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Shona Robison: The following table provides the number of prescriptions dispensed for Disulfiram and Acamprosate Calcium. The data is provided in financial years.

  

NHS Board
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08


NHS Ayrshire and Arran
2,629
2,818
3,157
3,040
3,030


NHS Borders
487
572
474
531
566


NHS Dumfries and Galloway
701
722
901
1,184
1,549


NHS Fife
1,141
1,105
1,018
951
1,300


NHS Forth Valley
1,584
1,741
1,741
1,741
1,898


NHS Grampian
2,216
2,287
2,290
2,248
2,280


NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
6,077
6,662
7,261
7,985
8,622


NHS Highland
1,849
1,963
2,255
2,343
2,834


NHS Lanarkshire
4,716
5,066
5,199
5,556
5,714


NHS Lothian
4,717
5,089
5,281
5,736
6,008


NHS Orkney
64
66
76
90
82


NHS Shetland
87
126
154
146
145


NHS Tayside
2,468
2,900
2,894
3,214
3,409


NHS Western Isles
168
112
141
128
234



  Notes:

  1. Excludes prescriptions which were written outwith Scotland or where the NHS board is unknown.

  2. The data refers to items prescribed in Scotland that were dispensed by community pharmacists or dispensing doctors anywhere in the UK. This excludes the direct supply of medicines to patients from hospitals or clinics.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions for drugs to aid weight loss have been dispensed in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Shona Robison: The information requested can be found under the heading data source at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4635.html .

Housing

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether provisions in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill enable the modification of the Private Rented Housing Panel to allow it to consider other housing issues, such as tenancy deposits.

Alex Neil: Where appropriate, the power in section 10 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill could be used to confer new or modified functions on the Private Rented Housing Panel and committees provided these functions remain broadly consistent with the existing general objects and purposes of the panel and Committees. However, before approving any such proposal, Parliament will need to be satisfied that the provisions will improve the exercise of public functions having regard to efficiency, effectiveness and economy, and that it meets the various pre-conditions. As with any other legislative proposal, Parliament would also need to consider how much such a function would cost and how it might be funded.

  Current work on tenancy deposits considered by stakeholders in the Tenancy Deposit Working Group has shown that the cost of determining tenancy deposit disputes by the committees in their current form is likely to be considerably higher than other approaches. The group has agreed it wishes to examine the appropriate future wider role of the panel in relation to rented housing more generally.

Immigration

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations providing support and advice to immigrants it has met with in the last 12 months.

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations providing support and advice to immigrants have requested meetings with ministers or senior government officials in the last 12 months, and how many of these requests resulted in meetings.

Alex Neil: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Justice

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been murdered in Scotland since May 2007.

Kenny MacAskill: Information is available, on a financial year basis, on the number of homicide victims, with homicide being defined as murder and culpable homicide.

  Information on the number of homicide victims in Scotland in 2007-08 is given in table 1 of the Statistics Release Homicide in Scotland, 2007-08 published by the Scottish Government on 16 December 2008, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47922). Figures for 2008-09 are due to be published in December 2009.

Justice

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average life expectancy on release has been of prisoners released from prison on compassionate grounds.

Kenny MacAskill: It is impossible to be absolutely precise on matters of prognosis for any disease. For this reason, it is not possible to give a meaningful figure for average life expectancy for those granted compassionate release.

Justice

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on what grounds prisoners have had applications for release on compassionate grounds rejected since 2000 and for what crime each failed applicant had been serving a custodial sentence.

Kenny MacAskill: The following table provides the information requested.

  

Prisoner
Date Rejected
Case Offence
Reasons for Rejection


1
2001
Misuse of Drugs
Condition not immediately life threatening


2
2001
Road Traffic Act, Contravention of Criminal Procedures Act
Condition not immediately life threatening


3
2003
Misuse of Drugs
Condition not life threatening


4
2003
Murder 
Condition did not meet the medical criteria


5
2003
Misuse of Drugs
Condition not immediately life threatening


6
2004
Theft of motor vehicle, theft by housebreaking
Condition not immediately life threatening – not recommended by consultant physician


7
2005 
Lewd indecent & libidinous practices & behaviours x2 
Governor did not support compassionate release; prognosis was 3-6 months and individual was due to be released 8 weeks after application.

Justice

Anne McLaughlin (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many stop and searches have been carried out in Scotland under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 since 2007, showing those carried out on people under (a) 12, (b) 16 and (c) 25 years old.

Kenny MacAskill: Figures detailing the number of stops and searches carried out by Scottish Police Forces under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in each year since 2007 were provided in response to question S3W-26459, on 4 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

  The Scottish Government does not hold information concerning the age of those stopped.

Justice

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether public funds continue to be paid to house the relatives of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in East Renfrewshire and, if so, what sum is involved and what bodies are responsible for funding this arrangement.

Kenny MacAskill: We are not aware of any public funds being paid to house relatives of Mr Al-Megrahi in East Renfrewshire.

Justice

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assurances it has received from the Government of Libya that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi will be returned to custody in Scotland should he breach the terms of his release; whether these assurances have been relayed to East Renfrewshire Council and, if no such assurances have been received and relayed, what purpose is served by requiring East Renfrewshire Council to monitor Mr Al Megrahi’s movements to establish if he is observing the terms of his release licence.

Kenny MacAskill: Mr Megrahi has been released on licence conditions similar to those of any other prisoner released on licence on compassionate grounds. These are available on our website www.scotland.gsi.gov.uk/lockerbie . The Scottish Government neither sought nor received such assurances. East Renfrewshire Council is not required to monitor Mr Megrahi’s movements, any more than they are for any other prisoner released on licence.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many offenders were incarcerated in HMP Edinburgh for carrying an offensive weapon in each of the last three years and how many had a previous history of (a) incarceration and (b) incarceration for the same offence.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Historical data is not available relating to who was in custody for a specific offence over the last three years. The following data refers to prisoner currently held within HMP Edinburgh.

  There are currently 16 prisoners in HMP Edinburgh held on a current warrant with an offence of "Offensive Weapon".

  Of these 16 prisoners 15 have had previous periods of incarceration.

  Of the 15 prisoners with a previous period of incarceration two have been previously convicted of an "Offensive Weapon" offence.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the number of outstanding premises licences, whether it will consider extending the deemed granted status allowed for personal licences until November 2009 to cover also premises licences.

Kenny MacAskill: A deemed grant system for premises licences is already in place for businesses that met the deadline for applications. Where necessary, for example in respect of applications submitted late, alternatives such as occasional licences exist and are already being utilised.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it anticipates that all personal and premises licenses that are required to comply with the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2009 will have been received.

Kenny MacAskill: As set out in the 2005 Act the administration of the licensing system is a matter for licensing boards. We hope any licensing board that still has licences to be issued will do so as quickly as possible.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many premises were licensed to sell alcohol in each of the last five years.

Kenny MacAskill: The information sought can be accessed from the following links:

  The Scottish Liquor Licensing Statistics 2007

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/11160147/22.

  The Scottish Liquor Licensing Statistics 2006

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/08/21145701/0.

  The Scottish Liquor Licensing Statistics 2005

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/06/09105249/52516.

  The number of licences in force does not equate to the number of licensed premises operating. For example, a number of premises maintained current licences even though the businesses concerned no longer operated, and other businesses operated with two or more licences covering one premises.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what formal or informal guidance has been given to police forces and licensing boards regarding the enforcement of alcohol regulations.

Kenny MacAskill: No formal or informal guidance has been given to the Police regarding enforcement of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. I wrote to all licensing boards on 3 September stating that, it is particularly important that those responsible for enforcement approach their task with pragmatism and common sense. This did not mean that licensing boards or the police should not make full use of their powers in tackling licence holders who abuse or ignore their responsibilities under the act.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it the duty of the Scottish Government to provide clear boundaries on how licensing law should be interpreted and implemented.

Kenny MacAskill: The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 provides a framework which gives licensing boards the flexibility to tackle the local problems which effect their communities. The government has no intention of setting boundaries that would restrict that flexibility and the scope for innovation in local licensing policy. As with all legislation interpretation will ultimately rest with the courts.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the implications for business should different police forces and licensing boards implement the new alcohol regulations differently.

Kenny MacAskill: No specific assessment was made for the new licensing regime as the previous regime provided for the possibility of local variations to be applied by licensing boards to meet local circumstances. The government continues to support the concept of local solutions to local problems and those who wish to sell alcohol in those communities should be prepared to accept their responsibilities to these community. As with the previous licensing regime, licenses issued under the 2005 act are issued in respect of individual premises rather than parent companies.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanism is in place to scrutinise the implementation of the new alcohol regulations.

Kenny MacAskill: Work is being commissioned by the Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group on Alcohol (MERGA) to evaluate the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and, at my request, the Accounts Commission will also examine the impact of the act. We will consider carefully any recommendations made or matters arising from these processes.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is available to licensing boards regarding the implementation of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Kenny MacAskill: Guidance under section 142 is published on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/04/13093458/0 . The government will be updating this guidance now that the transition period has ended and the act is fully in force.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what communications it has had with licensing boards regarding the implementation of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Kenny MacAskill: The Transition Timetable and process was drawn up with advice from a transition team which consisted of six licensing clerks. Throughout transition officials have maintained contact with licensing boards and several implementation updates have been issued to boards and other stakeholders. In addition, communication has taken place on various matters, some of which are being addressed in the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that Schedule 3, section 8(2)(e) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 applies generally to off-sales promotions.

Kenny MacAskill: Paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to the act makes it clear that paragraph 8(2)(e) applies to off-sales.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of plans by any licensing boards to use Schedule 3, section 8(2)(e) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 to restrict off-sales promotions and, if so, what its position is on such plans.

Kenny MacAskill: No. It is for licensing boards to consider whether any promotion is contrary to any condition in the 2005 act. The Scottish Government has already announced its intention to take further action in respect of off-sale promotions in the forthcoming bill to tackle alcohol misuse.

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many licensees in the Lothians region have not applied for a new personal licence to sell liquor, broken down by local authority area.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally.

Mental Health

Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how it works with local authorities in relation to efficiency savings in services for people with mental health problems and (b) whether it is developing a strategic context for such savings.

Shona Robison: The concordat and single outcome agreements give local authorities far greater autonomy not only to allocate funding on all local services in line with local need but also to manage efficiency savings locally without any constraints of ring-fenced funding streams.

  The Scottish Government offers support and advice to enable local authorities and other partners to consider the strategic priorities across the range of community care areas to inform use of resources and service redesign, in order to improve outcomes for people who use services, and their carers.

  In addition the developing work on the Integrated Resource Framework (IRF) with a number of local areas in Scotland will assist NHS boards and local authorities to consider their collective resources in context of demographic and financial challenges, and support more effective use of resources in delivery of service improvements.

Mental Health

Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce a timescale in line with its commitment to introduce waiting time guarantees for mental health services.

Shona Robison: We are currently considering new waiting times targets for areas where individuals are not always currently able to access mental health services within 18 weeks.

  We are working to establish by April 2010 a referral to treatment waiting time target for specialist child and adolescent mental health services, and we are also currently giving consideration to establishing a waiting times target for access to psychological therapies.

  In most cases individuals requiring access to mental health services receive treatment well within 18 weeks.

Mental Health

Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that the NHS meets its mental health HEAT targets.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has invested £3 million per year for three years in the Mental Health Collaborative which is specifically tasked to support the NHS to deliver its four mental health HEAT targets.

  This money funds a national team which works with boards on improvements needed to meet the targets, and additional time within boards to enable key board staff to focus on delivering these improvements

  A formal performance management structure is also in place to support delivery of the targets, including a risk assessment process; a regular management board meeting, and performance review visits.

Multiple Sclerosis

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people with multiple sclerosis there have been in each (a) NHS board area, (b) local authority area, (c) Scottish parliamentary region and (d) Scottish parliamentary constituency in each year since 1999.

Nicola Sturgeon: The detailed information requested is not held centrally.

  Research studies suggest there are around 10,000 people in Scotland with multiple sclerosis (MS). The national MS register which the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland has been developing with the MS Society Scotland, with some government funding, will in time provide more accurate data on the incidence and prevalence of the condition.

Multiple Sclerosis

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidance exists as to how far people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and other chronic conditions that cause fatigue should have to travel to access specialist services.

Nicola Sturgeon: There is no specific guidance as to how far people with multiple sclerosis (MS) or other long-term conditions that cause fatigue should have to travel to gain access to specialist services.

  The Scottish Government is however committed to providing services for long-term conditions such as MS which are fully responsive to the totality of people’s needs and are delivered as locally and as speedily as possible, but with ready access to specialist services when needed. We made clear in Better Health, Better Care our support for a Managed Clinical Network (MCN) approach to these conditions, since MCNs balance the need for specialisation with local delivery of services wherever possible.

  This approach is echoed in the development of the "obligate networks" concept in the 2007 report Delivering for Remote and Rural Healthcare. These networks are intended to link Rural General Hospitals with larger centres to support local delivery of care by reducing to a minimum onward referral and travel for patients in remote and rural areas. This work is being taken forward by the Remote and Rural Implementation Group of the North of Scotland Planning Group.

  We expect this overall approach to be encouraged through implementation of the clinical standards for MS which NHS Quality Improvement Scotland expects to publish in final form next month. Regional neurology centres are expected to develop contacts with Community Health Partnerships to facilitate the management of people with MS in the community.

Multiple Sclerosis

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can provide figures on the amount spent on research into multiple sclerosis in each year since 1999 and how this compares with other OECD countries.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), within the Scottish Government Health Directorates, has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. CSO primarily responds to requests for funding research proposals initiated by the research community in Scotland and this role is well known throughout the healthcare and academic community. CSO would be pleased to consider further research proposals for innovative multiple sclerosis studies of a sufficiently high standard.

  Direct Expenditure on Multiple Sclerosis Research since 1999 is as follows (£ Millions):

  

 
CSO
Department of Health
Medical Research Council


1999-2000
0
0.5
not available


2000-01
0
0.5
1.5


2001-02
0
0.6
2.1


2002-03
0
0.1
1.8


2003-04
0
0.1
1.1


2004-05
0
0.1
1.4


2005-06
0
0.8
1.9


2006-07
0
0.01
3.1


2007-08
0.1
0.8
3.6



  In addition to direct expenditure, CSO and DH also meet the additional indirect costs to the NHS of hosting research funded by bodies such as the MRC and research charities. Such indirect expenditure on multiple sclerosis is not held centrally.

  Information regarding spend on multiple sclerosis research in other OECD countries is not available.

NHS Hospitals

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the capacity is at the Physical Disability Rehabilitation Unit at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many equivalent facilities there are in the NHS to the Physical Disability Rehabilitation Unit at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow; what the capacity is of each such facility, and where it is located.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Physical Disability Rehabilitation Unit at the Southern General is a 30 bed specialist Rehabilitation Unit. A further eight beds are provided at the Larkfield Unit, Inverclyde Royal Hospital. While it is not possible to make direct comparisons there are a further seven specialist units across Scotland. The location and capacity of these units is set out in the following table.

  

NHS Board
Location
Bed Numbers


Lothian
Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh
28


 
Liberton Hospital, Edinburgh
26


 
Royal Edinburgh Hospital
19


Orkney
Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall
20


Ayrshire and Arran
Central Hospital, Irvine
19


Grampian
Woodend Hospital
16


Forth Valley
Ward 11 Falkirk District Royal
8



  In areas where there are no specialist units NHS boards provide rehabilitation services in a range of hospital and community settings to meet local needs.

National Health Service

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultant out-patient appointments were not attended by the patient in each of the last two years and what the cost to the NHS was of these missed appointments, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of patients who did not attend (DNA) a first out-patient appointment at a consultant-led clinic in 2007-08 and 2008-09 is provided below. The average cost of a first out-patient appointment in 2007-08 was approximately £110 - the latest available figure.

  To address this issue a HEAT target was introduced in 2008-09 to reduce first outpatient DNAs to 9% as part of the HEAT efficiency saving targets which are due to be delivered at the end of March 2011.

  We would expect the introduction of the New Ways of Defining and Measuring Waiting Times which was implemented on 1 January 2008, to have a positive impact in reducing DNA’s. Under the New Ways rules patients will be made a reasonable offer of appointment which must consist of two offers with seven or more days notice. As patients are being offered a choice of appointments they will be more likely to attend on the agreed date.

  

 
2007-08 - New Appointments Number
Did not Attend (DNA)
2008-09 - New Appointments Number
Did Not Attend (DNA)


Number
%
Number
%


Ayrshire and Arran 
101,421
11,009
10.9
107,342
11,362
10.6


Borders 
29,820
1,767
5.9
31,756
1,790
5.6


Dumfries and Galloway
38,695
1,858
4.8
40,850
2,057
5.0


Fife 
99,271
8,510
8.6
110,287
9,659
8.8


Forth Valley 
59,830
5,035
8.4
67,179
4,815
7.2


Grampian 
125,023
10,514
8.4
132,111
10,033
7.6


Greater Glasgow and Clyde 
422,295
54,104
12.8
450,864
56,595
12.6


Highland 
70,283
5,420
7.7
72,290
5,703
7.9


Lanarkshire 
129,697
16,216
12.5
139,552
18,186
13.0


Lothian 
230,583
23,586
10.2
244,510
26,578
10.9


Orkney 
3,238
161
5.0
3,345
155
4.6


Shetland 
5,368
307
5.7
5,757
383
6.7


Tayside 
149,844
14,326
9.6
152,948
14,103
9.2


Western Isles 
7,647
700
9.2
7663
569
7.4


NHSScotland*
1,474,823
153,642
10.4
1,569,460
162,285
10.3



  Source: SMR00(Scottish outpatient records.

  Note: *Prior to the end of May 2009 the Golden Jubilee National Hospital was mainly an elective centre for inpatient and day case treatment. The west of Scotland Heart and Lung centre at the hospital was fully operational from the end of May 2009. Any DNA’s for the Golden Jubilee are not shown separately but are included in the NHSScotland figures.

Police

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers in each police force are employed on the Thirty+ Retention Scheme.

Kenny MacAskill: The number of police officers in Scotland on the 30+ Scheme as of 31 July 2009, broken down by police force, is shown in the following table.

  

Police Force
Number of Police Officers


Central Scotland
2


Dumfries and Galloway
4


Fife
3


Grampian
7


Lothian and Borders
26


Northern
2


Strathclyde
35


Tayside 
16


Total
95

Prison Service

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) uniformed frontline and (b) administration staff were employed by the Scottish Prison Service as at 30 June 2009.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  (a) The Scottish Prison Service employed 2823 frontline uniformed staff, 99 Operational Senior Managers and 183 nursing staff as at 30 June 2009.

  (b) The Scottish Prison Service employed 916 administration staff as at 30 June 2009.

Regeneration

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason most of the money allocated to Edinburgh from the Town Centre Regeneration Fund was allocated to an area that did not meet the criteria for being a town centre and was not on the list of relevant areas published previously by the Scottish Government, while no money was allocated to Leith which did meet the criteria.

Alex Neil: I can again confirm that all applications were subject to the same four stage assessment process. This is outlined in my response provided for S3W-26356, answered on 1 September 2009. The City of Edinburgh Council was issued with feedback on their Leith bid on 5 August and were at liberty to use this to strengthen their bid for the second round of the fund.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

  The published guide to eligible areas was indicative rather than exhaustive, and applicants have also been able to present us with evidence for consideration in favour of the inclusion of other areas where a legitimate case could be made. Full details on eligibility are available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/regeneration/town-centres/tcrf/faqs.

Scottish Water

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual spend on investment by Scottish Water was for (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08; what the estimated spend for 2008-09 is, and how the annual rate of spend for the current Quality and Standards period compares with the annual rate of investment spend that would be achievable under the Draft Water Industry Commission Determination currently out for consultation.

Stewart Stevenson: The annual spend on investment by Scottish Water for the years requested is available from Scottish Water’s Annual Reports which are held in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The Bib. numbers for these documents are as follows:

  

Year
Bib. number


2006-07
43566


2007-08
46506


2008-09
48596



  The Draft Determination is available at:

  http://www.watercommission.co.uk/UserFiles/Documents/WICS%20DraftDetermination_1.pdf .

  Ministers have made clear in their draft Principles of Charges statement that the investment programme should be no larger than can be delivered efficiently.

Sexual Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the monitoring of attendance started at the Sandyford Hub Clinic at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the monitoring of attendance at the Sandyford Hub Clinic at the Vale of Leven Hospital records the (a) town of residence and (b) age of the patient.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the monitoring information showing (a) attendance, (b) age and (c) geographical location of patients at the Sandyford Hub Clinic at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Shona Robison: The Sandyford Initiative, including the Sandyford Hubs, routinely monitor attendance, including the age and postcode of patients, using the national sexual health patient management system (NaSH).

  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde introduced an additional monitoring questionnaire for users of the new Dunbartonshire Sexual Health Hub at the Vale of Leven Hospital in June 2009. This questionnaire was in place until August 2009 and also monitored age and postcode of the patients. The information collected by this questionnaire is currently being analysed and will be published by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in due course.

Sexual Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Sandyford Hub Clinic at the Vale of Leven Hospital will offer evening opening hours.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has been informed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that there are currently no plans to review the opening hours of the West Dunbartonshire Sexual Health Hub at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Student Finance

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated annual cost would be of removing the upper age limit to the Young Students’ Bursary.

Fiona Hyslop: The estimated additional cash cost to the Scottish Government of removing the upper age limit to the Young Students’ Bursary would be approximately £30.1 million.

Student Finance

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scotland-domiciled students studying in Scotland are over the age of 25 and in receipt of a full student loan.

Fiona Hyslop: Data on student loans is provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC). 14,354 Scottish-domiciled students, studying in Scotland and at least 25-years-old were in receipt of a student loan in academic year 2007-08. Of those students, 14,181 took out the full loan amount to which the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) assessed they were entitled to.

Vaccinations

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be 17,278 or more full-time equivalent police officers in Scotland in May 2011.

Kenny MacAskill: Official statistics revealed that on 30 June there were already 17,278 police officers in Scotland, the highest number ever on record. This means that the Scottish Government has reached its target of having 1,000 more police officers in Scotland compared to the 16,234 officers when we came to power.

  The Police Force Projection Study which was published on 18 March modelled the likely officer numbers as at March 2011. This shows that officer numbers in March 2011 are likely to be between 17,275 and 17,484. The central point in this range is 17,391.

Vaccinations

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether registered carers will become a priority group for any influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme.

Nicola Sturgeon: Social care staff employed to provide personal care to children and adults in care homes and the community will be vaccinated against influenza A (H1N1) in the initial priority group. In addition, carers who fall into an at-risk category themselves or who are a household contact of someone with a compromised immune system will be included in the initial priority groups for the vaccine. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor the need for other groups to be vaccinated beyond the first priority groups over the coming months and further decisions on vaccination will be informed by independent scientific advice.

Voluntary Sector

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money ASH Scotland received from the Scottish Government and other government-funded bodies last year, expressed (a) in cash terms and (b) as a proportion of ASH Scotland’s total budget.

Shona Robison: ASH Scotland is the only national voluntary sector agency dealing with tobacco control issues in Scotland. The funding it receives from the Scottish Government in the form of core and project grant funding is in return for agreed outcomes which contribute to the development and delivery of effective policies to reduce the unacceptable toll smoking takes on the nation’s health.

  The information requested on the funding made available to ASH Scotland in Financial Year 2008-09 is provided following:

  (a) Available funding in cash terms

  (i) Scottish Government funding

  

Core Grant
£255,000


Local Alliances Project
£60,000


Tobacco and Inequalities Project 
£60,000


ASH Scotland Information Service
£62,950


Capital Grant
£30,737


PATH*
£453,150


Total
£921,837



  Note: *Partnership Action on Tobacco and Health (PATH) is a joint initiative set up in 2002 to support the expansion of evidence-based smoking cessation services involving the Scottish Government, NHS Health Scotland, the NHS in Scotland and COSLA, which is co-located with and managed on behalf of the partners by ASH Scotland.

  (ii) Other Public Funding

  NHS Health Scotland: £34,172.

  (b) As a Proportion of ASH Scotland’s Budget

  ASH Scotland is an independent Scottish charity and the Scottish Government does not hold information on ASH’s total budget other than that published annually in ASH’s audited accounts. Its audited accounts for 2008-09 have not yet been published but will in due course be publicly available and can be requested directly from the charity concerned.

  It should also be noted that independent reviews to examine ASH Scotland’s performance in providing value for money in relation to the funding provided by the Scottish Government to support its core activities and projects and of PATH were undertaken in 2007-08. Copies of the review findings are available on the attached links http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/29113558 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/28155352.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Building

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body on what basis it has refused to publish details of the building maintenance contract for the Parliament building.

Alex Johnstone: Details of SPCB maintenance contracts, their estimated contract value and expenditure to date are published on the Scottish Parliament’s website.

Scottish Parliament Building

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the total extra expenditure has been on the Parliament building since its commencement in use by MSPs.

Alex Johnstone: The Parliament sets budgets annually for ongoing maintenance and any other works. Expenditure is reported as part of the Chief Executive’s Report to the SPCB. The Parliament does not have a budget category for "extra expenditure".